W.G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace
Born: 18 July 1848, Downend, Bristol
Died: 23 October 1915, Mottingham, Kent
Major Teams: Gloucestershire, London County, England.
Known As: W.G. Grace
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Medium (round arm)
Test Debut: England v Australia at The Oval, Only Test, 1880
Last Test: England v Australia at Nottingham, 1st Test, 1899
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1896
Career Statistics:
TESTS
(career)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 22 36 2 1098 170 32.29 2 5 39 0
Balls M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 666 65 236 9 26.22 2-12 0 0 74.0 2.12
FIRST-CLASS
(career: 1865 - 1908)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 870 1478 104 54211 344 39.45 124 251 876 5
Balls M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 124831 1116 50980 2809 18.14 10-49 240 64 44.4 2.45
- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.
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The "Doctor" or the "Champion" or most commonly just "WG"
was without doubt the greatest batsman in England for
20 or so years, during which time he was worth a place in any
side in the world as a bowler. He bowled slow-medium, near round-arm,
and relied on flight and deception to take his wickets.
He was also a brilliant fielder (capable of throwing well over 100 yards),
a top class athlete, and a great racquets and tennis player.
He was if not actually
the inventor of modern batting (play straight, foot to the pitch
bat close to the pads, balance between back-foot and front foot play) certainly its greatest early
exponent and the example by which the rest of the world learned
how to play.
He scored the first two triple centuries in first class cricket and made his
last first-class century almost 40 years after his first (a double century).
His was the first century in tests for
England. He carried his bat 17 times. He scored 3 hundreds in a
row 5 times. As a bowler he took 8 or more in an innings 16
times including a ten for, and a 9 and an 8 in the same game and
14 times he scored a century in a game in which he took ten or
more wickets.
The real merit of his play though was the difference between his
scoring and his fellows. As a very young man he scored 134*
while the rest of his team made 57 out of an all out 201. At 20
he became the first player in "modern" cricket to score 2
hundreds in a game. He was the first player to score 2000 in a
season, he made 2739. He once made over 800 runs in 10 days for
twice out (2 300s). He was (and maybe still is I haven't
checked) for many years the only player to have scored more than
200 of his sides first 300 runs.
Grace played his first first-class match in 1865 at the age of
17 and his last 43 years later in 1908 when aged almost 60. In
between he scored 54,896 runs, still 5th on the all-time list,
at 39.55, including 125 centuries. That average may not look
much nowadays, but for most of his career the pitches were
atrocious by modern standards; also he played on at an age when
his eyesight and reflexes must inevitably have deteriorated. He
also found time to take 2876 wickets, 6th on the all- time list,
at 17.92. He took 887 catches, second on the list for a nonkeeper.
His best years were in the 1870s. Unfortunately, by the time he
made his Test debut, in 1880, he was already past his best, so
his record is comparatively modest. His greatest year was probably 1871:
2739 runs at 78.25. The next best aggregate that year was 1068,
the next best average 37.66. In 1873 he averaged 72.20 for 1805
runs, next best average 41.60, next best aggregate 1052. In 1876
he scored 2622 at 62.42, compared to 1261 and 42.00 by the
runners up. In his dotage, in 1895 at the age of 47 he made
1000 runs in May and finished with the highest aggregate of 2346
at an average of 51.00 (3rd best).
The combination of his enormous popularity (probably the best known
public figure in England apart from Queen Victoria), coinciding with the
railways making travel possible for the masses, turned cricket
into the first modern spectator sport. (John Hall, Jeff Green and Dave Liverman, 1997-99)
Last Updated: Monday, 26-Aug-2002 18:13:14 GMT
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